Wonderland
by SlippedLips
Summary: Kiba's fiancée runs away a week before the wedding, saying she no longer wants to share his dream. He hires a bounty hunter, Uchiha Sasuke, to find her and bring her back. But has the hunter met his match? Will she return at all, as Sasuke struggles to keep up?
1. Prologue

**Inspired by Ke$ha's song, "**Wonderland**". All rights for **_Wonderland_** and **_Naruto_ **go to their respective owners/creators, as I only own the OC in the story as well as the plot line. Thank you.**

* * *

Wonderland

Prologue

Bundled up in an oversized burgundy sweater and skinny jeans, Tokimoto Akira glanced sideways to the passenger sitting beside her. He was dressed in a business suit, but also holding a plain navy holdall with a red-and-white fan imprinted on the side. His bangs veiled most of his face from her prying gaze; she could only see his throat clearly.

She adjusted her bag on her lap. Most of its contents were screwed-up and simply stuffed into the bag in a hurry. She had no plans of returning to her fiancé anytime soon. Taking her eyes off the man, Akira looked around to the other passengers. As the train pulled out of Tokyo, she breathed a sigh of relief. She'd avoided the third rush hour at Shinjuku Station, purchasing a train ticket to Nagano. Her brother had guaranteed her that he would be at the Nagano train station to pick her up. Even then, it would take three hours of travelling to reach Nagano and then half an hour to get to where their family's farm was.

A sigh escaped her lips and she twisted in her seat to look out of the window behind her. Houses and the occasional shrub blurred past, mixing into each other and then becoming separate as the distance increased.

Long strands of straw-coloured hair fell into her eyes and she swiped them aside, tucking them behind her ear. The man beside her shifted in his seat and Akira watched from the corner of her eye as he pulled out his phone and fiddled with it. Bored with the journey already, it was the only thing there was to do really. She hadn't thought of bringing anything with her—well, she'd brought her phone, but it was almost ancient compared to the models out nowadays; she had got it when she began high school, as a gift from her late father—apart from the essentials, e.g. toothbrush, hairbrush, make-up and her best clothes. It hadn't crossed her mind that she might have needed some entertainment during the train ride. There was already enough going on in her mind.

Decision-making was always something she did after talking things through thoroughly with her father. And their last talk had led her to question her own life. Now he was gone, there was no one to talk to in the same depth as him. Despite being a working man for his entire life, he was very insightful and perceptive of other people. Akira hadn't inherited any of those traits from him, unfortunately, although her brother Satoshi had. Her other brother, Takumi, was more like her mother; he didn't smile often, valued his privacy and the privacy of others, but always had a good sense of intuition. It was almost unnerving.

The man snapped his phone shut, and made Akira jump out of her thoughts. She looked away in embarrassment when she saw his head move towards her.

Less than three hours to go, and hopefully he would get off before then.

* * *

He didn't get off and there was only one more stop before she reached Nagano. As luck would have it, as it was always against her, he remained glued to his seat when that stop arrived.

There were only a handful of passengers left in the carriage.

Huffing out a breath, Akira fidgeted until she found a comfortable position and leant back into her chair; for the past three hours, she had been sat stiffly with a straight back and her bag on her lap, not trusting anyone to attempt to pick-pocket it. Apparently, she had been overreacting again, being a 'little bit paranoid' as Satoshi would probably say if she told him. Not that she was going to tell anyone, especially him.

Drumming her fingertips against the permeable fabric of her bag, Akira lost herself in her thoughts once again. The last time she returned home was when her father was admitted to hospital – she had chipped in, alongside her brothers, to get him the treatment he needed. But it only prolonged his life.

"Are you all right?"

The voice had awoken her from her thoughts and she then realised why he was holding a tissue out to her. Tears were leaking from her eyes. "Err – thank you." She took the offered tissue, dabbing at her eyes as she tried to smile. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally like this."

The man only nodded; there was no hint of a friendly or encouraging smile on his face, but concern did exist in his onyx eyes. "I hope whatever is troubling you is amended soon."

Akira flushed at the gravity of his words. It was like something her father would say to her. "Erm – thank you, sir."

The man chuckled quietly, his chest rumbling at the motion. "You don't have to call me sir. My name is Sasuke." Akira suddenly felt silly, calling him 'sir' and grasping his tissue in her hands like she had the right to keep it. Hesitantly she tried to hand it back to him, only for him to push her hand back to her and half-smile. "Keep it. Just in case, okay?"

Akira bit the inside of her lip as she smiled at him. "Thank you … Sasuke."

* * *

The train pulled into Nagano Station with ease. They had arrived exactly on time, like usual, but they had a bit of a hassle getting off the train as a swarm waited to get on. The platform itself wasn't packed as such, but when a train pulled in, crowds gathered into masses by the opening doors.

It was nine 0'clock, and Akira felt the emotional rollercoaster of the day begin to take its toll on her as her eyes fluttered shut temporarily.

"Do you have someone coming to pick you up?" asked Sasuke, undoing a few buttons of his shirt. Akira forced her eyes not to linger on his exposed collar bone for too long.

"Err – my brother … he's picking me up and taking me back home." Sasuke nodded, as though approving of her answer. "What about you? Do you have anywhere to stay, a hotel or something arranged?"

"What makes you think I'm not visiting my parents?"

"We would have gone to school, mostly, but I suppose they could have moved when I left for Tokyo," Akira shrugged, shouldering her bag. She looked up at him as he smirked slightly. "But you don't seem like you're visiting family."

"Oh?"

Akira smiled brightly. "You would have bought a gift," she said, before thinking, "Because if you're visiting, you would've bought a gift to show how much you missed your family."

"And where's your gift, then?" countered Sasuke light-handedly, readjusting his holdall. "And how do you know I'm not hiding it in my bag so I don't lose it?"

Akira bit her lip again. "I didn't think of that."

"Your gift or mine?"

"Yours," Akira rolled her eyes at him, "I never forget my gift. My mother loves the little recipe books from the bookshop down my …" Her eyes glazed over as though recalling something that she had been trying to forget. Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. Soon Akira shook it off, though, and hastily muttered, "Never mind. It's nothing." A horn beeped obnoxiously from behind them. Akira and Sasuke looked round and Akira's face broke into a giant grin. "It's my brother!"

Sasuke nodded, no longer smirking. "See you around, then."

"Yeah, you too."

The horn beeped again.

Akira sighed, sucking in a deep breath and then turned to shout at her brother, "Shut up already, I'm coming!" She turned back to Sasuke. "It was nice meeting you. And thanks for the tissue!" She waved dramatically as she rushed towards the honking car, complaining at her brother to be quiet.

"Don't tell me what to do! Mother wanted me to make sure you wouldn't do something stupid – too late, seeing as your befriending strangers! Seriously, did you ever listen when you were a kid?"

"Shut up, Takumi! Stop being so irritable!"

"Why don't you shut up instead of cuddling up to strangers late at night?"

"Late at night? It's nine 0'clock – _and_ I'm an adult!"

A beep told Sasuke that he had received a new message. Pulling it out of his pocket, not watching Akira and her brother disappear into the blackness of the night, he read it:

_Good job. Now bring her back. – K_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

* * *

Morning broke across the hills and the valleys, casting a blanket of daylight over the sleeping village and the faraway houses and farms.

Plucking an apple from the fruit bowl, Akira took a quick bite and ran out of the back door before her mother could enter the kitchen. Initially she planned to hunt around the woodland to see if she could get a few photographs of wildlife before a lot of traffic came through. Unfortunately, she had got out of bed too late and had missed it. In the end, she decided to venture to the meadow at the top of the hill and watch the town for a while. There were times when she could remember her father shaking her awake and she had groggily asked him what he was playing at, that it wasn't even light out yet, and he would just say that he fancied a bit of a walk with his daughter. _Paternal bonding time_, he would've call it. Shame they couldn't do it anymore.

When she reached the base of the hill, she smiled inwardly. The path her father showed her was steep, almost curved right into the hill's side. When she was little, her father used to tell her a story involving the Wind God and the Earth God having a competition and together they made the hill, the Earth God pushing a mound of earth from the flat land and the Wind God used his powers to shape the mound into a smooth bump, which the Earth God later drew lines in to make passages to help civilians escape from the valley if attacked.

But where were the Gods when her father became fatally ill? Where were the Gods when he died and left her mother a widow? Where was the mercy and protection from those superior to mankind back then?

The paddy fields gleamed in the morning light. Lush green cloth covering patches here and there, with streaks of brown and grey running in between. Looking back towards her family's farm, Akira saw the front door open and Takumi emerge with two baskets under his arm. Knowing that she had to join in too, Akira started to make her way back down the hill. By the time she caught up with him, they were just outside of the apple tree field.

"Here," Takumi handed her one of the baskets. "Put as many as you can into the basket and when it's full, take it up to the barn and into the barrel. You know what to do after that."

Akira nodded and shut the gate after she and Takumi entered the field. Takumi started on the first row of trees, so she started on the second. Usually there would be other helpers, but because it was quite late into the season, many of them had returned to the cities as most of them were students still.

"So," Takumi called over to her, after a while of silence between them. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"You're not the only one who has been there, Akira." Takumi reminded her, his face turned away from her. "I had to choose once. It's not easy."

"No, it's not." Akira replied softly, her mind wandering back to Tokyo and to Kiba. She loved him, or had done at some point, but a couple of months ago, when he proposed, she felt uncomfortable. At first she had thought she was doubting herself and her happiness with him and, thinking the feeling was only nerves, accepted his proposal. Now, she realised that wasn't the case. The happiness they first shared wasn't the same now. "But in your relationship it was a mutual choice. Kiba and I aren't the same as you and Megumi."

"Perhaps," murmured Takumi thoughtfully. "But you need to do things that make you happy sometimes, too. Imagine what kind of world this would be if we all did things for each other and never for ourselves."

"It would be an easier one to live in," Akira grumbled moodily, glaring at the apple she had just plucked.

"Do you really think so? I would've thought that it would make everything much harder, because you would be so concerned about other people, even people you didn't like, that you eventually stop taking care of yourself. Or do you think that's right?"

Akira diverted her eyes. "No, of course not. I believe in helping people in need, but no one can help _everyone_."

"Well, there you go." Takumi said nothing else and continued to pick apples from the branches, leaving Akira to her thoughts. He had brought up the subject deliberately, as he and Satoshi had arranged. After all, someone had to weasel the information out of her.

Slowly the sun started to rise into the center of the sky, its rays of light reflecting off the dying green of the leaves. Beads of sweat appeared on both Takumi and Akira's brow; Akira's long hair, which was left untied, made the back of her neck sticky and uncomfortable for her. Sweeping her hair from one side to the other, Akira silently thanked the Gods that her blonde was fair and not dark, otherwise she would have been baking under her own hair.

Picking apples reminded her of the next farm over from theirs, the one that manufactured masses of sweet potatoes and barley. On that farm was a boy who was Akira's age; his name was Yoshida Kintari, or Kin for short. He used to come over every summer and help out with the apple-picking and in exchange she and her brothers used to go over to his family's farm and help dig the potatoes out of the ground. The last she had heard about him, however, was that he had travelled to Nagasaki because of work. It wasn't long after Akira herself had left for Tokyo in search of work.

"Excuse me," called a voice, from near the gate. Takumi and Akira looked around: standing there was the man from the train journey, Sasuke. "Do you need some help?"

"Err –"

"Do you have any experience?" called Takumi, stepping away from the basket at his feet and striding towards Sasuke, who leaned against the wooden gate.

"Not in apple-picking, but I have worked on a farm before. My grandfather has one in Iizuna." Sasuke replied, unfazed by Takumi's scowl. "I used to work there every summer since the age of twelve with my brother."

"Why aren't you there now?"

"He's just passed away and I was meant to be helping my uncle move in, but he's already done it. So I took some time off for nothing. I just wondered if I could help," he added, seeing Takumi's skeptical look. "I can look elsewhere if you want."

"No," Takumi said, "But you should talk to my brother and mother. Satoshi legally owns the farm and my mother runs the business."

Sasuke nodded, unsmiling but not frowning. "All right. Where do I find them?"

"My mother is probably in the home, back that way," Sasuke nodded at Takumi's instruction. "And Satoshi would be in the barn, distilling the apple juice."

Sasuke nodded, glanced at Akira and then focused on Takumi. "All right, thank you." He straightened up and winked at Akira. "See you around." Then he began walking back down the dirt track.

Takumi pursed his lips. When he turned around to face Akira, he frowned darkly at her. "He's not the same stranger from last night, is he, Akira?"

Akira concentrated on the apple she was struggling to reach, bouncing on the tips of her toes. "Err – I don't know what you're talking about—"

Takumi grabbed the apple and held it out to her. Akira went to take it, but Takumi wouldn't release his grip on it. Akira stared at his hand, not daring to meet his eyes. "You know what I'm talking about, so don't play that game. He's that guy you were talking to last night, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

Takumi sighed, let go of the apple and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "Oh Lord, you've found yourself a stalker!"

Akira swatted at him as he laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling in mirth. "That's not funny! He's not my stalker – he's a—"

"Don't say he's a friend!"

"I'm not!"

Akira turned her back to him, pouting with crossed arms, while Takumi picked up her basket and then his. "I'll take these to Satoshi, you can go and help Mum."

Akira nodded and unlatched the gate to let Takumi out of the field, fastening after herself and trudged back to the house. Opening the door, she found herself face-to-back with Sasuke. He looked over his shoulder at her and sent her a faint smirk before resetting his attention on the woman coming into the foyer. Her grey hair was tightly pinned back and her eyes were slanted with thin lines existing in the corners. Tokimoto Rinako glimpsed her daughter loitering behind the man and squinted. "Akira, the folders need sorting. They go in alphabetical order."

Akira nodded and snuck past Sasuke, who stepped aside but made no movement forwards. Rinako didn't look at Akira as she passed, but watched the man in front of her appraisingly. "May I ask who told you we needed help?" It wasn't a question as such, but rather a command.

"One of the locals, the owner of the small shop. He goes by the name Akimoto, I believe." Sasuke observed her scrutinising him.

"Hmm, I suppose he would know." She conceded, still looking at him unimpressed. She shuffled forwards, the hem of her long kimono dragging. "Have you spoken to my eldest son?"

"I have spoken to Satoshi and the other brother," Sasuke supplied unsmilingly. "Both have said that they have no objections." He paused, waiting to see if the mother would respond. "Would it be all right with you, seeing as you own the company?"

Rinako's pale lips thinned. "I cannot see any harm in it." Her tone was clipped, curt. "However," she started. Sasuke chewed the inside of his lip, anxious to hear what her terms were. "Stay away from my daughter. She doesn't need any false hope of any kind."

"I don't—"

"She has just broken off her engagement and lost her father," Rinako cut in sharply, narrowing her eyes at him. "If she ends up hurt, then you will _never_ work in Nagano again. Do you understand?"

Sasuke nodded. "Of course. I don't intend to—"

"It's not a question of your intentions, whatever they are," snapped Rinako, squinting her eyes, "I just want you to leave my daughter alone."

Sasuke pursed his lips. Unbeknownst to the Tokimoto family, he was aware of some details – for example, Akira's recent break-up with Kiba – however, Kiba hadn't mentioned her late father. That information was new; Sasuke himself understood the rawness of emotions as a result of grief, with his grandfather's recent death. That wasn't a lie, when he said about helping his uncle move in. Itachi had told him to take the job because it would link in to helping Uncle Teyaki move house. Staring Rinako in the eye, as she obviously expected him to reply, he said, "I will do, Mrs. Tokimoto."

"Good. Now, call me Rinako. I can't stand formality." With that said, she turned around and started to hobble further into the house. "Work starts at eight and ends at four in the afternoon. I expect you to be in on time. We'll talk more tomorrow."

Sasuke bowed his head and, knowing he was excused, left the house. As he opened the front door, Satoshi appeared, talking to his brother. "Oh," He smiled when he saw Sasuke. Takumi didn't smile. "Did the old hag accept you?"

Had he not been trained to control his facial expressions, Sasuke would have looked taken aback by Satoshi's reference to his mother. "Erm, yes, she did."

Satoshi smiled even brighter. "That's good to hear. We need a hand." He turned to Takumi, "Have you introduced yourself or not?"

"Not."

"Fine," Satoshi turned back to Sasuke, "Sasuke, this is my brother, Takumi. Watch out, he can be quite grumpy at times, but he's normally well-behaved." Takumi shot him a look that clearly said his irritation for him. "And Takumi, this is Sasuke, our new farmhand." Sasuke held out his hand to Takumi, who didn't shake it straight away. Warily, Takumi eyed him and then his eyes flickered to the top of the house: Akira was peering out from behind a net curtain. As soon as she saw him, she ducked out of sight.

Takumi chuckled lightly to himself, ignoring the suspicious look he achieved from Satoshi and the quirk of an eyebrow from Sasuke. He focused on the two men beside him. "Are you starting tomorrow?" he asked.

Sasuke replied, "Yeah, at eight a.m."

Takumi inclined his head, as though approving. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow then." Passing Sasuke without glancing back, he made his way indoors.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at his brother's retreating back. "I'm sorry," he said to Sasuke, "He's acting really weird at the moment."

Sasuke shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. I have a brother and he doesn't always make much sense all the time."

* * *

**Okay, so I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Tell me what you think - Akira's not too Mary-Sue, is she? :s**

**Also, Iizuna is a reference to Izuna as the name can be read either way. :) Who do you think will be the grandfather?**

**See you next time! ~ S.L.**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Back at the cottage he was renting, Sasuke pulled out his phone. There were no messages. Sighing, he pocketed it and pursued to the kitchenette. Placing the kettle on the hob, Sasuke cranked up the heat to maximum and decided to do a little research while he was waiting. In all honesty, it had been years since he had been back in Nagano. For a short while, everyone in his family had lived here, until the fire burnt down most of the complex and the repair fees were too much to pay. Everyone moved away after that, him and his family included.

He had debated whether to revisit his old elementary school. It was during elementary that he left Nagano to live with his family in Narita. Was Kakashi still there? And what about the Headmaster, Sarutobi Hiruzen? He had liked him.

Maybe afterwards he would visit one of the onsens in the neighbouring villages. It would help him relax, seeing as being back in Nagano made him restless and fidgety. How much of it was the same? Appearance-wise it seemed identical, but what about the people?

The kettle started to whistle in protest. Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts and turned off the hob, then collected a tea towel before wrapping it around the handle of the kettle and pouring the boiled water into a ceramic mug. Stream rolled into the air in small waves, hitting the ceiling and transforming into droplets of condensation. Stirring his cup of sugarless tea, Sasuke mused to himself how unexpected his life was. One moment he was in Narita working on a case, and then the next he was back in his hometown planning to woo a young woman back to her fiancé in Tokyo. It was too fortunate that his father didn't know what his profession was, otherwise he would be hauled to his parents' house for questioning.

_Beep, beep. Beep, beep—_

Snatching his phone out of his pocket, Sasuke answered the call. "Hello? Who is this?"

"It's me, little brother, calm down." Itachi muttered, sounding rather amused, "There's no need to be so urgent. I can take my time, if you want."

"What do you want, Itachi?"

"Uncle Teyaki has called, saying that you're going to enlist for some agricultural work in the town. By any chance, does this concern that girl you were sent out for?"

"What? Itachi—"

"You said her name was Tokimoto, correct?" Sasuke faltered at Itachi's directness. Itachi took his silence as a yes. "Then you should know that the Tokimoto family has lived in Nagano for probably the best part of two centuries, as has the land that they live on been theirs for that amount of time as well. Sasuke, you must remember Nagano isn't Narita," Itachi urged calmly, "People may remember you or they may not. The Tokimoto might, especially if you tell them your surname, because Mum was friends with one of them and I went to school with a boy named Takumi. And no, he isn't the kind of person who forgets a face easily."

Sasuke interrupted, "I've already met them. Takumi isn't openly friendly, but I don't think he has realised anything yet. Satoshi is fine. The mother, Rinako, seems suspicious." He let Itachi digest that for a moment before continuing, "But it'll be fine. She'll go back to Kiba, surely, because there doesn't seem to be anyone else around here."

"Except you maybe."

"Buzz off!" snapped Sasuke irritably, pausing to take a sip of his tea. "Is this all you wanted to talk about? Can I go now?"

"I want you to be extra careful on this one, that's all. You haven't been back to Nagano since we left, so you don't know if all your old friends are the same." Itachi warned lightly. "You might be shocked by what you find."

"If that's the case, I won't go looking." Sasuke retorted, leaving the kitchenette and entering the cramped lounge. He flopped onto the two-seated sofa bed. "I'll see you soon, though. This won't take long."

"Sasuke—!"

He hung up on Itachi, who cursed on the other end of the line. Tossing his phone onto the seat next to him, Sasuke carelessly switched the chunky TV on and began flipping through the channels. When he found nothing of interest to him, he turned it off. Sighing, he drank his tea. As much as spending time with women annoyed him, he found this job had a pleasant perk – reunion with the past.

* * *

Biting her bottom lip, Akira choked back a squeal when mud spluttered across her face. She closed her eyes, expecting more mud to follow. None did.

"If you go around with your eyes closed, you're bound to bump into things," remarked Takumi. He wasn't being snarky, just pointing out the obvious. However, being stubborn, Akira refused to listen. She listened to Takumi sigh and muttered, "Don't come crying to me when you hurt yourself."

"Shut up and get on with it, Takumi. We don't have all day," grumbled Akira, eyes still tightly shut. Takumi sighed again and lobbed a crate of apples into her arms. Not expecting it, Akira stumbled backwards.

"See! Just open your eyes, you're going to hurt yourself!" insisted Takumi.

"Shut up!"

Regardless of her brother's concern, Akira kept her eyes closed and tried to make her way towards the entrance of the barn. There stood Satoshi, wearing a skeptical expression, watching them. "Do you think," he started, making Akira jump, "that you should listen to Takumi? He only cares about you, after all, and doesn't want to see his baby sister get hurt."

"I'm not a baby."

"I beg to differ."

Akira opened her eyes, revealing a glower directed at Satoshi. "All right! If I'm such a baby, I shouldn't be doing this, so –" She dropped the crate into Satoshi's arms; he made a loud, 'oof!' noise. "– deal with it on your own." Then she stormed out of the barn.

Takumi cast Satoshi a disgruntled look. "This is why I handle situations like that," he commented dryly. Satoshi merely sighed, shifting the crate under his right arm. "Leave it," he added, when Satoshi looked where Akira had gone. "I'll talk to her later. Right now we need to move these crates for the delivery. Put that one there and help me with this one."

Satoshi nodded and turned to put the crate in the storage cupboard, which was more like a refrigerator than a cupboard. As he turned around to go out, he spotted a rat-like creature scurrying inside. "Takumi, there's a mouse! Hand me a broom!" he called loudly. In an instant, Takumi put back the crate he was holding and grabbed the broom. He threw it to Satoshi and then he tried to beat the mouse out of cupboard. "Out, out, out! Shoo!" With a surprised squeak, the mouse disappeared. Satoshi swore. "It's gone!"

"I didn't see it come out—"

"No, no – it's still in here!"

"Ahh, bugger, Satoshi!" cried Takumi, frowning as he stood in the doorway. "The cat won't come in here either. We'll need to set a trap."

Satoshi ruffled his hair. "But that's cruel."

"Well, you shouldn't have lost the mouse, then," barked Takumi sternly, turning around to stalk to the high shelf at the back of the barn. He lifted a small box off the shelf and rummaged through it, finding a mousetrap. "Here, we'll use this one." Replacing the box, Takumi returned to the cupboard. He set up the trap beside the door, tucked away to the side so no one would tread on it and get their foot stuck. Takumi heaved a sigh. "We'll have to put all the crates on the top shelves. Hopefully it's just a baby and won't reach them."

"Okay."

It took another two hours to reset the crates onto the higher shelves and bring the rest in. Takumi exclaimed that is was pure luck that they hadn't needed to store even more crates. "The mouse would be having a feast," he had said.

Stepping out of the cupboard, Satoshi sighed and turned away, seeing their mother hobbling towards them in the distance, cautiously stepping around the murky puddles. "Mother's coming."

Takumi groaned as he locked the cupboard. "Does she look happy?"

"You tell me."

Rinako finally reached them and upon seeing them, she said, "Well? Is everything ready? The van will be here in half an hour." She looked from one to the other. "What is it?" she added.

"A mouse has got into the storage cupboard," Satoshi told her calmly, "We've set a trap and are going to keep an eye out. We don't think it'll reach the apples."

"I hope not," replied Rinako coolly.

"Where's Akira?" asked Takumi, steering the conversation away from the mouse. He tried to flinch at the severe look his mother gave him.

"What do you mean?" she asked sharply.

"Err –" Satoshi looked at Takumi for assistance. Takumi refused to meet his eyes. "She left before the mouse incident. She might have gone to the—"

"Might have? Does that imply you don't know, Satoshi?" queried Rinako haughtily, leaning on her cane while peering at her eldest son beadily. "Why would Akira leave? She knows that she has work to do."

"Well, you know," Satoshi scratched the back of his neck, smiling nervously, "Takumi said something stupid, the usual."

"Oi," mumbled Takumi, frowning at him, "Don't try to pin this on me." He turned to his mother. "I told Akira to open her eyes, but she wouldn't because she didn't want to get mud in them. Satoshi called her a baby, which she didn't like and went out in a strop. It's hardly me being stupid."

"Humph." Rinako turned around slowly; over her shoulder, she called, "The man from last week is back. He says he wants to talk to you, Satoshi. Don't leave him waiting." Satoshi nodded and ran past her, heading back to the house. Rinako stopped at the barn entrance. "Takumi."

He looked at her back. "Yes, Mother?"

"Watch over her, please," Rinako murmured, a certain tone edging her voice. "Masashi would regret leaving her in a mess like this. She shouldn't have run away so quickly."

"She just panicked. Marriage is a big commitment."

"You don't need to defend her. I don't blame her for not wanting to marry him, even if he was a nice boy. I believe that she was wrong to not talk to him first, resolve the argument they'd had. What she wants to do with her life is not my choice. I can only be there to support her." Rinako explained to him, her back still facing him. "Just make sure no one makes this mess worse."

"I'll try my best."

Rinako left him there, no words of goodbye were exchanged between them as they continued with what they been doing previously. Takumi concentrated on finding if there were any mouse holes in the barn walls. By the time Rinako had reached the house, Satoshi and the man were bidding goodbye. Hopefully, everything would be sorted out soon. She looked upwards into the white-dabbed blue sky, sighing, "Hopefully ..."

Just then Akira stepped beside her. "Hey, Mum, what are—?"

"Walking off in a huff isn't the best way of dealing with a confrontation, you know," Rinako interrupted swiftly, "You're going to have to toughen up if that's how you deal with things. Look at your father, he wouldn't have run away," Akira shifted uncomfortably, staring at the dirt by her feet. "He would never let someone scare him. You have to be like that – fearless."

"Okay. But we had just had—"

"Arguments are little things in comparison to something as life-changing as eternal commitment," said Rinako softly. "When your father and I married, I faced opposition from my family because he was half American. But I never regretted my decision, even though my parents refused to attend the wedding ceremony."

"I'm sorry," muttered Akira, her head bent downwards still. "I know I'm blessed, but—"

"You're not ungrateful, so don't even think it!" snapped Rinako sharply, suddenly stern. She held her hands together, folded on the top of her cane. She turned to peer at Akira. "Happiness comes in all forms. Love does not. You must feel certain that whoever you decide to tie your life to, whoever he is, is the one you will always love."

"So you don't think I'm a failure?"

Rinako raised an eyebrow. "Not getting married does not make you a failure, Akira. It makes you sensible. A woman should get what she wants because she knows that _she_ wants it."

"But the job, university—"

Rinako waved Akira's words away. "I didn't go to university, neither did your brothers or your father. Masashi spent his entire life working. You're not a failure, not in any way." She didn't miss the relief that flooded Akira's eyes and upwards the curl of her lips.

* * *

**So, given an insight into the mechanics of the Tokimoto family, what do you think? Is Akira too perfect, or 'Mary-Sue', in this story? R&R! ;) Cheers! ~ S.L.**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Wandering down the lane, his hands stuffed into his pockets, Sasuke was lost in his thoughts. The urge to check the elementary school was strong, especially walking down such as familiar road. Above his head, the intertwining branches wove a heavy canopy to protect him from the sunlight.

He had forgotten what Nagano looked like in April. Despite the mornings being chilly at the start of the day, the entire day was normally rather pleasant. Like when he was younger, he was sporting a light jacket in case it started to get too hot. Nagano hadn't changed too drastically, after all. The weather hadn't changed, but the same couldn't be said about some of the shops in the town centre. He still couldn't believe that the Fujioka family had moved out and sold their little shop to Akimoto.

White clouds drifted by in the sky. Then his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Where is she?" came Kiba's voice, sounding impatient. "I thought I told you to get her back quickly. The wedding is next week!"

"She's a person, you know, she comes with feelings and her own opinions." Sasuke pursed his lips. He and Kiba may have gone to school together, but the years hadn't helped Kiba in the least. His patience was still awful. "She's only just got home. Give her a day or two and then I'll give you a call."

"But—"

"It's only been a day," Sasuke sighed irritably, "Do you expect she'll just come over after one night's sleep? Give me two days."

"You just said one a moment ago!"

"I said one _or_ two," snapped Sasuke.

"Hey! Don't get crabby with me – I'm the one paying for you to gallivant around the countryside looking for her! I need her back before my mum comes! If she doesn't—"

"Just leave it to the expert and stop getting your panties in a twist," cut in Sasuke, then hanging up on his client. "God's sake …" he huffed. He continued wandering down the lane, passing a quaint little cottage on the side of the road, looking quite forlorn. Shrubs of assorted flowers surrounded the road as he drew closer to the little country village. Actually it wasn't so much a village, but the complex he had been brought up in.

Scorch marks etched the walls, becoming darker as he journeyed further inside. Past the broken gates was a little shop which had once been Uncle Teyaki's business. He and his wife, Sasuke's late aunt, had baked all the treats in that shop themselves. Sasuke could taste them on the tip of his tongue, like a ghost favouring the feeling of the sun's warmth after an eternity without it. Looking at the old shop sign, he saw the window above it. Fragments of glass were still stuck in the pane, withered by age and weather.

He came to a halt.

Looking around was like going back in time. The morning after the fire found Sasuke standing outside the gate, staring up at what had once been his home. He couldn't even begin to describe the emptiness inside of him when he looked up at the centre house, his house. That one was the worst.

There was nothing left back then, and there wasn't anything left now.

* * *

The sky began to bleed an overbearing red, leaking through the darkening blue and dominating the oncoming night sky. In her bedroom, Akira looked out across the landscape, eyeing the town. A couple more months and it would be snowing and she would be able to ski down the hillsides, perhaps even the mountains. The mountains were wonderful capped in glistening white snow; Akira often imagined that was how the idea of winter wonderland looked, a picturesque village layered with snow and icicles hanging from the guttering and window panes. She smiled inwardly. Yes, that would be her wonderland.

"Knock, knock," whispered Satoshi, creeping into her bedroom. He looked around the bare walls. "You know, I remember when your whole room was covered in posters of that boy band – you know, the one with Haruna Yusuke—"

Akira blushed and told him to shut up. He grinned, joining her on the padded bench by the window. "Did Mum send you up here?" she asked quietly.

"No," replied Satoshi softly, observing Akira as she gazed at the stars. "I just thought you might be a little bit lonely. You don't mind me being here, do you?" Akira shook her head. "Good, because I'm not leaving. I wanted to talk to you."

"This isn't about Kiba, is it? I've already spoken to Tak—"

"This isn't about him, it's about you." Akira shifted her attention onto him, unsmiling. "I don't any experience in love so I'm not going to go into it. What I want to do, is help you figure out what you want to do." He paused and cut in, as Akira opened her mouth to interrupt, "You told Mother you thought you were a failure, right? She told you that you're wrong."

"She's wrong."

Satoshi leaned closer to her, sincerity leaking into his eyes. "You're wrong. You went to Tokyo and got a job – you just didn't like it."

"You try working in one of those cafes! The men in there are pigs!" argued Akira hotly, feeling that she needed to defend herself. "You would hate it as well!"

"I'm not criticizing you!" hurried Satoshi, "Tokyo is swarming with people trying to find work, so the fact that you got a job is great! But do you know what you want?" He became serious all of a sudden, his gaze focused firmly on hers. "You said you wanted to be an actress, but then you wanted to be a doctor and then a baker." His look softened. "If I'm honest, I don't think the family business will suit you. You're the kind of person who needs to travel around and have fun, explore places and learn new things. Getting bored living a mundane routine isn't what you want."

"And you would know?" asked Akira dully. "I'm not trying to be difficult, but if I don't know myself, how would you?" She pressed her lips together and sighed. "I just want to figure everything out one problem at a time, Satoshi. It's nice that you and everyone else are trying to help, but this is something I need to do on my own." She watched as the soft look in his eyes dimmed. "I'm sorry," She squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I love you, Big Bro."

Satoshi tried to smile. "I love you too, Sis."

"Oi, are you two coming down? We've got a visitor!" shouted Takumi from downstairs. Satoshi and Akira looked at the door.

"We'll be down in a minute!" called back Satoshi, his hand still entrapped by Akira's small ones. "Just give us a second!"

Footsteps signaled that Takumi and whoever was with him had ventured into the living room. Satoshi looked back at Akira, who was staring at the doorway still. A wisp of her hair fell into her eyes. Akira didn't notice it, so Satoshi took it upon himself to tuck it behind her ear: the gesture was affectionate, but it still made Akira jump. She whipped her head round and gawked at him curiously.

"What?"

"A bit of your hair escaped," explained Satoshi simply, a small smile spreading across his features. "So … want to go downstairs?"

"Yeah, all right."

With that said, they trudged downstairs and trooped into the living room. Sliding the paper door open, Akira came to face the man sitting beside Takumi, legs crossed on one of the cushion seats. Rinako was seated on the sofa. Akira's face broke into a grin. "Ryota!" Running forwards, she collapsed in front of him and embraced him tightly, which he returned. "I've missed you so much!"

Ryota laughed warmly. "I've missed you too, sweetheart."

Takumi's eyes darkened briefly before Rinako said, "Akira, let go of him. He's been travelling for hours, the last thing he needs is you strangling him."

Ryota waved her words off, but Akira let go of him nonetheless. "It's fine," he insisted weakly, as Akira took a seat the other side of him. "I got some sleep between flights. It wasn't that bad."

"Either way," Rinako continued, "I want you to rest here overnight. You can continue to your parents' house tomorrow morning, if you want to leave early. I'm sure they wouldn't mind waiting another day. And anyway," She eyed Akira, who was beaming at Ryota, "I'm sure you two want to catch up on your adventures, considering your knack for troublemaking at school."

Akira's smile became rather sheepish. Ryota laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I am sorry about that. You probably had the school on speed-dial."

Rinako looked down at him severely. "Mm. You could say that."

* * *

Leading Ryota up the stairs, as the grandfather clock by the front door lolled round to eleven p.m., Akira fished for conversation.

"So did Tokyo not work out for you?" asked Ryota, bringing up the question Akira had been dreading to answer. He was behind her so he missed the grim expression she pulled, but not the sharp intake of breath. "Don't you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly, if you don't mind," responded Akira, taking the last two steps in one stride. "Your room's here," She pointed to the semi-open door. "Breakfast is normally at eight. My brothers and I are normally up quite early, so if there's any banging about in the morning, it'll be us. We'll try not to wake you up—"

"It's fine," Ryota, "stop worrying about me. I'm not the same kid from back then, I've grown up. America's a great place. You should come and visit me one day, you'd like it."

A coy smile lit up Akira's face. "Maybe one day," she murmured, then added a little louder, "I'd like that." She left him standing at the top of the stairs with a quiet, "good night" and a light 'goodbye' smile. Closing her bedroom door behind her, she sighed. Ryota would ask her again, whether it was tomorrow morning or years ahead of now, because when he thought one of his friends was hurting, he'd never stop to find out why. In school, he'd been worse – suspended in the second year of high school, then nearly expelled in the last … it was surprising, nearly, when he admitted that he had got on well in America. Not that she had been hoping otherwise, but she just hadn't expected it. At school he was a troublemaker, and outside of it he wasn't much better – although, she reasoned with herself, he had never been in trouble with the police. Just the neighbours, and a few barmen.

The curtains at her window weren't drawn. The navy-streaked night sky gleamed with thousands of tiny silver dots scattered as far as the eye could see. It was a cloudless, moonless night. Lamplights in the village could be seen as though they were only streets away instead of long, windy roads.

_"All roads lead us home, Akira."_

Moving away from the door, Akira smiled derisively. _I hope so_, she thought. _Otherwise I'm pretty much stuck. _She went to her chest of drawers, pulling a drawer open and rummaging around for some pyjamas. She pulled out a loose flannel shirt and a pair of warm legging-like pyjama trousers. Before she changed, she drew the curtains out of habit. In Tokyo, there were all sorts of people, so it was a necessary precaution if she wanted to avoid peeping toms and stalkers.

When changed, she made for her bed. Halfway across the room, she stopped. Ideas, half-formed and whispering incoherently at the back of her mind, sprung to life. America might just be the answer – her escape. In America there was the promise of something certain, a bright future (albeit not without troubles) awaiting anyone could came to claim it.

But could she?

If she left for the United States, then she'd be leaving her family behind. It was halfway across the world, so it would be difficult to see them again if she only got a mediocre job, but if she was successful … her life would become completely different, as would the lives of her family. Of course, it was almost certain that her mother would declare that she was 'running away from everything' – and 'everything' meaning Kiba, and her troubles with him. She knew that her mother approved of him, but there was a suspicion that maybe her mother was expecting her to go back to him.

How could she go back to someone she wasn't going to be happy with for the rest of their lives? Why should she resume agreeing to their engagement? There was no way forward for _them_. For her, and for Kiba, as separate people, yes. Just not as a couple.

"Hmm …"

Creeping back over the window, Akira snuck a glance out at the distant village. She would miss Nagano, if she left for America. Her English wasn't excellent, but she knew the basics and would learn during her stay over there. There might not be any sense of familiarity, either, as the Westerners favoured a more independent style of life. She would have to look out for herself, seeing as no one else would do it for her.

Or was that a misconception of the West? She'd have to ask Ryota. Yawning, she withdrew from the window and made her way to bed. In the morning she'd ask, she decided, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

_Knock, knock._

Groaning, he rolled over and tried to ignore the noise coming from the front door. Of course whoever it was turned out to be very persistent and, in the end, he had no choice was to get up and answer them. Slowly he opened the front door.

"What the Hell do you want?"

"What a lovely way of greeting your brother," drawled Itachi, stepping inside the cottage without waiting for Sasuke's permission. "I brought you gifts as well."

"What are you doing here?" asked Sasuke petulantly.

Itachi tutted him, walking into the kitchenette. "Shut the door, Sasuke, you'll let a draft in." Hearing the front door slam shut, suspecting Sasuke was no longer in a 'good' mood, Itachi turned around with a serious expression. "I'm here to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"What are you talking about?"

"When do you start work today?"

"Eight 0'clock," grunted Sasuke, walking past him and beginning to get ready. He knew Itachi would tell him what he wanted as he continued with his routine, so he wasn't going to stand about. "Now, what is it?"

"Don't tell the Tokimoto family your real name."

"I've told them I'm called Sasuke."

"But you haven't mentioned your last name?"

"I might've done to the girl, but not to the others." Sasuke replied, and Itachi sighed in relief. "Are you going to tell me why I shouldn't tell them my surname, if you already went to school with Takumi and Mum was friendly with Rinako?"

"Because things went sour after a failed business attempt," Itachi supplied. Sasuke stopped what he was doing and stared expectantly at him. "Dad tried to unit their business with ours and it failed. They lost a lot of money. Masashi, who was heading Tokimoto Distilleries at the time, wasn't that really that angry with Dad, but his wife—Rinako, did you say her name was?—well, she kind of avoided dealing with us ever since. We don't have any more shares in the company anymore because of her." He watched as Sasuke stared at the floor thoughtfully, his shirt halfway buttoned up. "If you tell Rinako your name, I doubt she'll be very nice towards you."

"She's already threatened to make sure I'll never work in Nagano again if I mess around with her daughter," Sasuke mumbled.

Itachi frowned. "Perhaps you should transfer the job, then. Allow someone else to take over …" he trailed off, as Sasuke shook his head.

"No, it's got to be me."

"Why has it? You may never be able to come back to Nagano again—"

"I don't hear you volunteering," snapped Sasuke, buttoning his shirt up and then grabbing some socks out of his suitcase. "Besides, I owe this much to Kiba. We went to school together and … never mind. I just can't let someone else do this." He looked Itachi square in the eye. "But I will change my name."


End file.
